


Safe and Sound

by ToxikCherrys16



Series: Alone series [2]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, One Big Happy Family, fostering, mentions of other fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 11:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8487385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxikCherrys16/pseuds/ToxikCherrys16
Summary: *COMPLETE* A couple of weeks after the events of So Long, and Goodnight, Jeff has an offer for the ginger friend that they all made. Set in July 2052. Disclaimer - I DO NOT OWN THUNDERBIRDS! (Alone series. Part 2/4)





	1. The Decision

** Chapter 1  **

**The Decision**

 

 

    I couldn’t believe that I was actually thinking of doing this. With everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks, people might call me crazy for even having a thought like that.

    So as I walked down the corridor to the ward I was heading to, I wondered whether I was doing the right thing. Whether she would appreciate me doing this. Whether the rest of my family would agree with the idea. But I knew, in my heart, that everything would be alright. That this idea was the right thing to do.

    After all she’d done for us, I needed to do this. Without her, things would probably have turned out a hell of a lot different. She deserved what I was planning to do, because she needed to know that, in the end, everything would be okay.

    The double doors came into view. They were a faded dark blue with some of the paint chipping off in places. It was such a stark contrast to the muted white and pale yellow walls.

    Never, in all of my life, had I felt this nervous. I hadn’t felt like this when I first went into space, or when I had been standing at the end of the aisle watching Lucille walk down it in white dress. So why did I feel like this now?

    Maybe it was because Lucy would have had the same idea had she still been with us. If she’d still been alive, would I still be this nervous?

    Even though I wouldn’t have lost the bottle to ask for Jodie’s opinion on my plans, I probably would’ve put it off for another couple of days, had I not pushed open the doors when I did.

    The ward was the same as it had been for the past couple of weeks; holding only one, very sad person. I’d talked with the staff, and they said that if she had somebody to go home with, she’d be free to leave, but they couldn’t let her leave just to go back to the streets.

    When I’d heard that news, I started looking into fostering her. I already knew that she got on well with the boys, and I couldn’t, in good conscience, leave her in here. _She’s been through enough already_ , I thought, _she doesn’t need to stay here any longer then she has to._

    Jodie was curled on her side, facing away from the door, but from the way she tensed up at the sound of the door opening and closing, I guessed she knew that somebody had come in and that she wasn’t asleep.

    As I got closer, I could see that the bandages were back on her wrists. I thought they said that she was better.

    “Don’t worry. Nothing happened.”

    I looked up from her bandaged wrists to her face, and saw that she was looking at me. I couldn’t tell if the bags under her eyes were bruises or not, as her face still had the bruises from Catrina.

    “Then what happened?” I asked, sitting down next to her bed.

    She took a deep breath in and turned to face me. Every movement still seemed to hurt her. Another present from the supposed ‘CPS' worker.

    “I ripped the stitches out in my sleep. Woke up with blood on the sheets, and freaked out a little.” She shrugged the best she could, “They stitched me up again, but I had to go back to having the bandages to stop it from happening again.”

    “When did this happen?”

    “This morning.” She answered, “Scared the hell out of the nurses, which then cause me to panic more. No harm though. Just numb arms, and another week in bandages."

    “Anesthetic?”

    “Yes. Although I am starting to get a little feeling back in my hands, which is good. I hate it when I can’t feel my arms. Having a general is always fun though. I thought I had a wand, and wondered why it rained.”

    I didn’t mean to, but I started laughing when she told me that, but it reminded me of something that happened to Virgil when he had to have one of his teeth removed a couple years back.

    “What?” She demanded, trying to get into a sitting position, “What’s so funny?”

    “Virgil did something similar after having a tooth removed. He started saying how he was a Jedi and where was his light saber?”

    Jodie started laughing at that too, before becoming serious.

    “Why are you really here Mr. Tracy?” She asked, looking me right in the eyes, “You wouldn’t just come visit to ask how I was. And if that was the case, you would’ve brought your boys.”

    Why did she have to be as smart as John? Always perceptive, and knowing when there was something being kept secret – even if he wasn’t the best at reading social situations, he knew how to read body language.

    “You got me. I wanted to ask your opinion on something I was thinking about.”

    “And your asking me has something to do with the fact that the boys don’t know anything about this thought.”

    “Correct.”

    She bit the inside of her mouth, obviously thinking through all the possibilities of what I could be wanting to ask.

    “Alright, shoot.”

    “Okay. I was thinking, since you are officially off of the suicide watch list, that…” She cut me off.

    “Yeah, but they think I can’t take care of myself. I can, they’re just worried about what I might do and ‘I’m too young to be out on my own.’ I looked after myself pretty well, all things considered…” It was my turn to interrupt her.

    “Let me finish.” I said, looking at her. She pretended to zip her lips up, and nodded at me, “Okay. I was thinking, that maybe you would like to come live with us – that we could foster you. And, if you chose to stay with us, we could look into adoption in a couple of years.”

    For a few seconds, it looked like she was in a state of shock. Her jaw had dropped, and she just stared at me for a good five minutes.

    “Are you okay?” I asked, feeling a little concerned that she hadn’t said anything to my idea.

    She nodded her head, but still didn’t give me a verbal answer. When she did finally answer, her voice sounded just as shocked as she looked.

    “You… You want t-to… Really?”

    I chuckled at her reaction. It was similar to the reaction my mother gave me when I told her.

    “Are you sure?”

    “Yes. I want to be a better person, and I know that you, along with my mother, will help keep me on that path. In the past six months, I’ve never seen John smile. Virgil started playing piano again. Everybody has started talking about their feelings, and they always talk about you.”

    “Me?” She pointed at herself.

    “Yes, you. Who else would I be talking about?”

    “I don’t know, but you never know. For all we know, there could be an elephant in the room.”

    Again, I chuckled. It was something that John probably would’ve said, had he been here.

    “Anyway, what do you say? You’ve seen how everybody in the family acts and how mental Gordon and Alan can be, so do you want to be fostered by the Tracy’s?”

    All she did was give me a nod, and wipe the tears of joy from her cheeks.


	2. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jodie comes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of this story is in the POV of Jeff.

** Chapter 2  **

**Coming Home**

 

 

    Sitting in the car on the drive home was nerve-racking to say the least. My grip on the steering wheel had turned my knuckles white.

    Jodie was sitting in the front seat of the car, looking apprehensive, and the boys didn’t know anything about my plan to adopt her.

    “Are you sure about this?” She asked again, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt, “I mean, it’s not too late to take me back if you’re having second thoughts. I wouldn’t blame you if you were.”

    She’d been doing this ever since we left the hospital, and the closer we got to home, the more she started saying this. I didn’t believe she was doing this to make me take her back, but because she was scared about what was going to happen.

    And I didn’t blame her. I was scared about the implications of doing this. But it didn’t matter, because I wasn’t going to regret this decision.

    “I’m sure, Jodie. I couldn’t have you staying in the hospital indefinitely, and I want to give you a home that you feel safe in. A home that you can be happy in.”

    A small smile tugged at the edges of her lips. She hadn’t had a stable home environment in about six years, and for three of those years she’d been living on the streets or running.

    “Okay. I’m just scared. What if they only liked me cause I helped John? What if they don’t like me living with you?”

    “With your brains and sarcasm? I doubt they would want to get on your bad side. They would be mad to do that.” I told her, getting another small smile out of her, “And the way they talk about you, I don’t think they’ll mind you living with us. If anything, you’ll have to have Gordon and Alan extracted from you, and duct tape John’s mouth to stop him from asking you questions at three am.”

    When we pulled into the street, I noticed my mothers’ car was in the driveway. As far as I could tell, everything was going according to plan.

    “Operation Surprise is go.” Jodie muttered, as she started wringing her hands together.

    “Everything is going to be alright.” I told her as we pulled into the drive next to the other car parked there, and getting out, “And I promise we will go out and get you some clothes, and stuff for your room.”

    “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a room to myself. About six years, but it could be seven.”

    “That long?”

    “Yeah. Anyway, into the belly of the beast, and out of the demons arse.” She muttered, getting out of the car and grabbing her rucksack.

    I rolled my eyes, getting out as well.

    “I know where that comes from, you know. One of my favorite movies growing up, but my mother didn’t like me watching it. Used to watch on the sly. How did you see it?”

    “They used to do ‘Movie Night’ at the hospital sometimes. They played it during my first couple of weeks there.”

    We got to the front door, and I put my finger to my lips before I put the key in and turned the key in the lock.

    There were hushed whispers coming from the den. They’d agreed that between five and six, we would have quiet time. A time where the older ones could do homework, and the Terrible Two had to do something that wouldn’t distract anybody, like watching a movie.

    When we got into the hall, I held out my hand to stop her before walking to the closed sliding doors and opening them.

    “Hey boys.” I greeted, smiling at them, “How are you?”

    All of them were doing something different. Scott was looking at some papers that appeared to be in John’s handwriting, Virgil was painting on a canvas, John was looking at something on his holo-tablet, and Gordon and Alan were sitting on the floor with some glue and glitter.

    That’s probably never going to come out of the carpet, I thought.

    “We’re okay.” Scott replied, barely looking up.

    “What are you doing?”

    “Jodie’s birthday is tomorrow. She turns thirteen. So we’re organizing something for it.” John told me, “The Terrible Two are making her a card, Virg is painting her a picture, but he won’t tell us what, Scotty is following some of my instructions on making a model Space Shuttle, and I’m seeing whether there’s any Space related exhibitions on. I was told she’s allowed to go out on day release.”

    I looked to my right to see Jodie smiling sheepishly in the hall. She’d never mentioned it during our ride home.

    “Hang on, isn’t tomorrow a Wednesday? Apart from John, isn't tomorrow your last day of school?"

    “There’s nothing wrong with skiving once in a while.” Scott said, “And besides, there’s nothing wrong with taking a day off every now and then.”

    “Plus, we’re all up to date with all our work. We’re basically just playing games in class, cause there’s nothing to do.”

    Pondering this for a couple of seconds, I couldn’t see what the harm was.

    “Alright.” Shanking my head in defeat, “But I have a surprise for you all…”

    Gordon and Alan were up in a flash, sprinkling glitter everywhere in their haste to get up.

    “Sit down.” I smiled, and waiting for them to actually do what I said before continuing, “Now close your eyes, and keep them closed till I say so.”

    The Terrible Two did it almost immediately, before bickering with each other about who managed to do it first. Scott and Virgil did it wearily, but John just shook his head and went back to looking at the tablet. That was probably the best I was going to get out of him.

    I opened the sliding doors wider, and motioned for Jodie to come stand at the entrance to the den; giving her a reassuring nod in the process.

    She took a deep breath before she stepped into position, so the boys could see her when they were told to open their eyes. Only that didn’t quite work.

    John caught sight of something, and looked up from his tablet to see what the movement was.

    When he saw her, he practically vaulted over to her from where he was sitting, and swept her up into his arms; swinging her round in a circle.

    “Oh my God. You’re here. How?”

    The commotion caused the others to open their eyes. They could probably only see a blur of orange and the colour of their clothing.

    “I am here.” She laughed, as John stopped spinning and put her down, “And your dad said it was a secret. That he was going to tell you when he got home."

    It was then like a stampede of elephants had invaded our home, with the rest of the boys trying to beat each other in attempts to see who could get to Jodie first.

    Alan won that race, and then proceed to latch onto her waist like a koala would a tree. He was then followed by Gordon, who elbowed John out of the way. Scott and Virgil were more reserved with their way of saying hello and welcome.

    “I guess your surprise trumps ours.” Scott smiled, pulling her in for a brief hug.

    “Yeah… Well… What can I… Say?” She replied, struggling to breathe, “Alan… If you don’t… Stop… Squeezing… I’m going to… Pass… Out.”

    The time it took him to first hug her, to Scott talking to her, Alan had climbed further up her body, and now had his legs wrapped round her waist, his arms round her torso, and his head on her shoulder.

    “You’re really here.” Is all Alan said and, if possible, seemed to tighten his arms around her.

    “I am… Alan. But can you… Loosen your grip? Just a… Little.”

    Seeing that he probably wasn’t going to let go at any point soon, Virgil stepped in and pried Alan off of Jodie so she could breathe.

    As soon as he was off her, she took in a deep breath and started coughing.

    “What the hell is he on?” She asked, still coughing up a lung or two, “I’m pretty sure he could bend steel, or break somebodies ribs.”

    “He has been known to do that at times. He normally knows when to stop, but he sometimes gets a bit… excited.” Virgil told her.

    “You can say that again.” She muttered, and seeing that John was actually going to repeat what Virg had just said, she added, “It’s sarcasm, Jay. I heard what you said. You don’t have to tell me again.”

    “I am familiar with sarcasm. Not good at detecting it though.”

    Jodie smiled and started to laugh a little. And this was the time that I chose to butt into the conversation between them.

    “How about you boys clean up in here, hide your surprises even though she knows what they are, order take out and watch a movie. How does that sound?”

    With all of them in agreement about it, they set to work while I took Jodie to the kitchen to look over one of the many menus we had.

    And by the time the boys joined us, we already had an impressive list of food, sides and drinks written down on a pad, but I didn’t mind. This was a time for celebration, so that’s what we were going to do.


	3. First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jodie's first night with the Tracy's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter in this part of the series.

** Chapter 3  **

**First Night**

 

 

    After the excitement of the news that Jodie coming was coming to live with us, dinner - guess who started the food fight - and watching Monsters Inc., everybody went to bed.

    The silence in the house lasted for a couple of hours before the padding of feet disrupted the quiet. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t already been awake, tossing and turning, worrying over what was probably nothing.

    It was quiet for a while after that, until I could just about make out somebody talking. I couldn’t tell you what they were saying, but I could hear it.

    And then it stopped again. There was no sound what so ever.

    _Who is it? And what are they doing?_ Is the first thought that went through my head, as I got up and out into the hall. It couldn’t be the Terrible Two, cause they would be making a hell of a lot more noise then what I heard. Virgil would still be asleep. When he got to sleep, trying to wake him was like trying to wake up a hibernating bear. And Scott would just sit in his room and play games. John was the only one who would get up, but he’d normally go to the roof to stargaze.

    But there was Jodie to think about now as well. I didn’t know about her sleeping habits. And she was in a new place, which might mess with everything she knows.

    Ever so slowly, I made my way down the stairs. I’d eliminate every room in this damn house to find the source of the noise, if I had to. I didn’t care about the time, I’d do what I had to, to protect this family, dysfunctional as it was at the moment.

    The closer I got to the den, the clearer the voices got. They weren’t the muffled talking’s of anybody anymore. I could actually hear what was being said.

    “There’s no way I’m Lydia. I read the basics of her character before we started, and just cause I’m a red-head, doesn’t mean I’m her.” The first voice said indignantly, “You’re more like Lydia if anything.”

    “What? How am I like her? And if you’re not her, then who are you?” The second replied.

    Well there answers my earlier question of who did the voice belong to, or rather voices. John and Jodie were the culprits.

    “I’m Stiles, obviously. And Lydia is the smart one. Granted, you’re not Queen Bee and all that, but you have her smarts.” Jodie told John, “Now shush. I haven’t seen this, and obviously you have.”

    “But…”

    “I’m pressing play now, and if you don’t want to watch the whole thing with subs, then you better be quiet. And don’t ruin it for me.”

    More sounds started coming through the closed door. I could hear barking, some chattering, and then some type of music.

    That’s when I opened the door on the two friends; who were sitting on the couch, hugging and eating ice cream.

    And it was probably the worst time to do it.

    On the screen, there was a boy holding a baseball bat before, all of a sudden, somebody suddenly appeared, hanging upside down from the roof, in front of the boy, and they started screaming.

    It made me jump, which alerted them to my presence. I think it took all their will power not to scream like the two boys on screen.

    “What the hell, dad?”

    “I heard noises, so I came to investigate.” I replied, watching as Jodie hit the pause button for the TV, “And I guessed that it might be you two, given the insomnia and how you stargaze, John. Figured that you would wake Jodie if you couldn’t sleep, given how you acted at the hospital.”

    “Give me a minute to let my heart restart.” Jodie joked, putting one of her small hands over her heart.

    “So, why are you guys up? I want to know if I’m right or not.”

    They looked at each other briefly before answering the question. Whether it was because they didn’t want to tell me or not, I had no idea.

    “It’s weird being here.” Jodie finally answered, "Not in a bad way, but seeming as the last eight years of my life, give or take, haven’t been the best, and that I can only remember bits and pieces of having a loving family, it’s a bit strange to be back living with one. Does that make any sense, cause it feels like it didn’t.”

    I smiled.

    “Yeah, it does make sense. I guess you could say you’re wary of what might happen in your new environment.” I told her, before looking back at the TV screen, “So, what are you guys watching?”

    “Teen Wolf. This is the very first episode, and we’re going to see how many episodes we can watch before we either fall asleep or everybody wakes up.”

    “Alright. Well, I better leave you guys to watch it then. Just make sure not to leave too much of a mess.” I said, motioning to the leftover pizza, potato wedges, and everything else that they couldn’t eat at dinner.

    “Don’t worry. We will.”

    As I left, I smiled again, leaving them to continue playing the old TV series they were watching before I came in.

 

**~oOo~**

 

    It seemed like only a few minutes after I made it back to bed, before I was waking up again. I knew that that wasn’t the case, as the sun was starting the stream through my curtains, but it felt like it.

    And no matter how much I didn’t want to get up, I knew I had to. I couldn’t miss out on what they had planned for Jodie’s birthday.

    So I pulled my semi-tired body from my nice, warm, comfy bed, and made my way to the bathroom to get showered, dressed. Hopefully I could wake myself up some more in the time it took me to get ready.

    When I got downstairs, it turned out that I was the first person up. Or at least the first one to actually get out of bed and go downstairs.

    I decided that I could see whether John and Jodie had actually made it back to their respective bedrooms, or actually just fallen asleep on the couch. Turns out the latter was the true one.

    They were fast asleep, spooning each other; a blanket pulled over to keep them warm, and what I guessed was another episode of Teen Wolf playing in the background. And while the take out boxes were still on the table, it was actually tidier then I was expecting it to be.

    “Come on. It’s time to get up.” I said quietly, kneeling on the floor next to them and gently shaking both their arms, “I was thinking about making pancakes, what do you think?”

    All I got was a couple of tired grunts, and a murmur of ‘we’re currently out of service, please try again later.’

    “I’ll do that then.” I chuckled, getting up and walking back to the kitchen, pausing the TV on my way out, “Is half an hour enough, or do you want an hour?”

    That got no response from them, but I did get one from somebody else.

    “I’ll take some extra time in bed, but I’m up now. There’s no way I’m getting back to sleep.” A tired voice came from behind me.

    “Morning, Scott.” I didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was, “Pancakes alright with you?”

    He nodded sleepily, and made his way to the coffee machine to turn it on.

    “I really should remember to turn the timer on, on this. Make sure the coffee is ready by the time I get up.”

    “Are you normally up this early?”

    “For school, yes. But I forgot to turn my alarm off for this morning, and I was up till about midnight trying to finish Jodie’s present. I think Virg was up even later than me trying to finish his.”

    “And he’s like a hibernating bear when he goes to sleep. We probably won’t be seeing him till about ten, if not later.”

    “Oh no, he isn’t.” He said, pouring himself a cup of coffee, “I’m waking him up at normal school time, cause he has to get up early for everything John has planned. I’m pretty sure he would’ve bought tickets for the Kennedy Space Centre and flights if he could.”

    I went and poured myself my own cup of coffee, before going back to making the pancake batter. Might as well get it done now and have something to eat before it becomes crowded, noisy and busy.

    About an hour, and a lot of coffee, later, my three remaining boys from upstairs came down; Virgil being pulled by two very excitable under ten’s.

    “It’s too early!” Virgil complained, looking into the den at the still sleeping forms of John and Jodie, “Why do they get to remain sleeping? I’m going to join them.”

    And with that, he sleepily walked towards them, sat down on the couch and laid down; his arms wrapped loosely round one of Jodie’s legs, and his head resting on her bum. He mumbled something before promptly falling asleep.

    “I’ll never understand how he does that.” Scott said, taking another gulp of coffee, “Oh how I’m jealous of his ability to do it.”

    “Well maybe if you didn’t drink ten gallons of coffee when you wake up, you might be able to do it.” I told him, clocking Gordon and Alan slowly making their towards the den door, “And don’t even think about it, you two. Let them sleep a little longer.”

    They stopped dead in their tracks, and looked at each other before they made their way towards two empty seats at the table.

    “But we want to give Jodie her presents.”

    “Later. It’s only a little after seven thirty, and I’m sure John has all the times we need for the museum. Once you’ve eaten and washed up your plates, you can wake them up.”

    “Okay.” They said in unison, after looking at each other for a few seconds.

    “Right.” I whispered, getting the batter and heating up the pan.

    A lot of pancakes later, I finally let the Terrible Two loose on the defenseless sleepers in the den.

    There were a few moments of silence, and then a lot of grumbled moaning and complaining.

    “What the hell is on my butt?” I heard a sleepy voice ask, as I made my way towards them, “Virg, mind moving your head?”

    “But your butt is so comfy.” Came the reply, and I saw him hug her leg a little tighter.

    “My foot is at just the right level to kick you in the balls. Don’t give me do it, cause I can and I will.”

    “Alright, alright.” With that, he slowly let go of her leg and sat up, “I would like to not be in pain when we go out.”

    It was at this point that Gordon and Alan decided to jump into the conversation.

    “Jodie! Jodie! Jodie!”

    “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” She yawned, sitting up as well.

    “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” They yelled, holding something out to her. I guessed it was the card they were making her yesterday.

    Their yell forced all of us to cover our ears, and causing John to finally startle awake.

    “Are they always this loud?” Jodie asked.

    There were some muffled answers, before another voice came from the den door.

    “I’m still trying to figure out if they have an off button.” My mother said, making her way into the room with a few wrapped presents, and handed them to Jodie, “But I now have a granddaughter, even if it isn’t by blood, and I’ll be damned if I can’t spoil you; so Happy Birthday.”

    That’s when the three oldest boys ran from the room. I could hear them on the stairs, so I was going to take a guess at them running to get their presents. They returned a couple of minutes later; Scott with his model Space Shuttle, and Virgil with his painting; which happened to be the Andromeda Galaxy.

    After a hug pile and some crying, I knew worries about what might happen, were just stupid thoughts. I should’ve known that nothing bad would come from this, given how they all acted around her. And I knew the only trouble she’d probably get into, was when she decided to join forces with either the Terrible Two, or John.


End file.
